Sandals Barbados

The first day… we waited an hour and a half to get to go to our room. Took about 45 minutes to even get our butler to come to the lounge to say hi. We had to wait to get our butler phone until that night so we couldn’t use it at all for the first day. We went to our restaurant that first night and we waited over an hour for our food that never arrived. We finally left and had to order from the bar across the way and take it back to our room. The second day…. Our phone that we finally got stopped working so we didn’t know where our reserved spot was on the beach. We ended up not using our butler service obviously because our phone wasn’t working. Third day….. we got our phone back and boom…. Not working again. Service was HORRIBLE!!!!! All the workers looked like they hated their job. Took forever to get anything.

After being a loyal Sandals customer for over 30 year I feel that I have to leave a review with regards to this resort. Primarily there is a definite disconnect between the Sandals brand, a 5 star rating and what is delivered to the guests of this property. Here is what hits the mark ! #1 the beach. #2 the food ( quality and selection) But that is where it stops. The resort itself is very dated and in dire need of renovations especially the building housing Spice's restaurant. The club-level staff need to be re-trained as to the value of hospitality and customer service. As a customer, one should feel welcomed to be a part of the resort community and not feel as though you are interupting some big social event amongst the staff members in the back room. very rarely was there a team member in site at the club lounge unlike other Sandals resorts where you are greeted with a friendly smile and warm disposition. I would also note that on other properties you are usually contacted by a member of the team to see how your stay was going or if there was anything that we may need but not Sandals Barbados. Also Check in time I believe is 3pm on the date of arrival and Sandals has all your arrival information which leaves me confused as to why the room was not ready until almost 5pm and even then there were still things missing from the room. On other properties you usually have stationary ,a pen ,etc. Not this one. The biggest issue though would be the amenities or rather lack thereof. How can you promote Lovers lane bowling alley when you most evenings it is closed between 6 and 8pm as there are no staff and even when it is open there are usually only two lanes operational. In addition to that how can you washroom facility adjacent to the bar and the bowling alley closed leaving with not indicator as to the closest facility. Sandals I am sorry to say that the resort classification here is definitely not a 5Star.

We loved our stay at Sandals Barbados and would jump at the chance to return. This is our 3rd Sandals trip and was the best as the size and amenities were many and varied. Other visits were to Antigua and St Lucia Halcyon. Our room had a to-die for view with swaying palm trees and the turquoise Caribbean Sea (room 1407). The staff were with only one exception friendly and smiley and offered help when we needed it. A special mention to Amanda who cleaned our room beautifully every day - thank you. The decor was in need of a lick of paint and fixing the scratches on the wooden furniture but this was not an issue. We noticed the resort was busier when we approached Thanksgiving and Barbados independence and this meant getting up very early to grab our first choice of location for a sunbed. This was a slight niggle. All in all, we would definitely return.

tl;dr - The resort is overpriced for what you get. The location and food were the highlights. Don't believe all the negative reviews for the staff because most of them were lovely. The rooms, cleanliness and entertainment need improvement. Disclaimer: I'd give this a 3.5 on a whole. Overall, my husband and I had a fun trip, so we decided to round up on the rating. We're also the type of people who are going to make the best of any situation, and a lot of enjoyment at Sandals Barbados is going to depend on your willingness to just go with it. This was our first time to a Sandals and first time to an all inclusive resort and I was a bit concerned reading the reviews prior to visiting. I'll write this review from best to worst since I think the "1" ratings are unfounded. Location: 5/5 - It was extremely easy to get from the airport to the resort. There was a bit of a wait for the shuttle going to the resort, but they give you water and it's in a shaded area. It's only about 15-20 minutes on the shuttle once it picks you up. Restaurants: 5/5 - We ate at many of the restaurants over the course of our weeklong vacation and didn't have a bad meal. We aren't huge buffet fans, so we skipped Spices but there was a surplus of other options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Crepes at Cafe de Paris and donuts at Sweet n Salty's for breakfast were yummy, pork and fried dough at Jerk Shack were tender, lunch options at Mariner's were all sufficient and flavorful. The best lunch in our opinion was at Neptunes, but it's also the one that has the longest wait and we preferred to maximize our time in the sun most days. Our least favorite lunch option was probably Dino's for pizza, but even that wasn't terrible. The best meal we had was at Butch's Chophouse on the Sandals Barbados side. It was American Thanksgiving and we ordered a feast. We also dined at Soy, Schooners, Bombay, Butch's Steak and Seafood, and returned to Neptunes for dinner and all were delicious. Late night snacks at Merry Monkey hit the spot. At most restaurants, we ordered multiple appetizers and sometimes an extra entree since there was so much that looked appealing. It's all inclusive, so why not try a bit of everything, right? The only food we decided wasn't worth it was the fries/ chips. We started ordering meals and snacks without them as they were consistently not very good. Service: 4.5/5 - I cannot believe the bad reviews the staff get on this forum. The majority of the staff were friendly and working their butts off. For every 1 bad experience, there were at least 9 great ones. We had so many smiles and greetings from groundskeepers, waitstaff, bartenders, security, butlers, and others on the property. Special shoutouts: Allison at the Schooners/ Mariners/ Dino's area who always took the time to catch up with us (along with some friendly joking about how much we were able to eat haha), Jack at the Merry Monkey who made us feel like regulars/ friends at a hometown pub and was always extremely welcoming, and the entire bartending staff at the main pool swim up bar who were consistently fun, engaging, and creative when we wanted to order unique drinks. The only skip I would say is the bar next to Spices. Not sure what was happening with that one, but it was bad service the couple times we tried to order there even over multiple bartenders. Atmosphere: 4.5/5 - The grounds were immaculate and lush. There were a wide variety of pools with different levels of noise and activity based on your preference. The sand on the beach was soft and beautiful, and the water was crystal blue and clear. One thing I'm surprised isn't mentioned more in the reviews is the nighttime noise from the frogs though. It was so loud that we thought it may be piped in white noise to distract from any balcony extracurricular activities. Not a bad sound, but if you're sensitive to nighttime noise, maybe bring earplugs as it was noticeable even when the doors were closed. Entertainment: 3.5/5 - Unfortunately, this area was really lacking. I will start with the positives though and say the talent level of the entertainers was amazing. The singers were fantastic, Dale at the piano bar was fun to sing along with, and the couple daytime events they had were enjoyable. That said, there weren't very many options of things to do and what was advertised was rarely what was actually happening. Multiple times, the marquees said there were certain events going on that weren't, and we saw the same shows multiple times even when something else was advertised. For only being there a week, I was surprised how many repetitions they had. I wish there had been more trivia, dancing opportunities, live instrumentalists, etc, as these were rare while we were there. Cleanliness 3/5 - Another area that was lacking. For a 5 star resort, I expected things to be a bit better kept. Yes, the horticulture was beautiful, but there were some other areas that seemed less well maintained. Many areas were slow to have plates and glassware cleaned, the furniture was dated and some of it came across as dirty, and a few times the pools looked like they should have been skimmed during the day in addition to the nighttime cleaning. For a 5 star resort, I would expect it to be immaculate. Rooms 2.5/5 - This was probably the most disappointing aspect of the trip. For the cost of the room at a 5 star resort, it should be a non-negotiable to have an amazing room. Ours was not. We had a Club Level Oceanfront room on the third floor. There was heavily peeling paint on the walls on both sides of the vanity, dirty grout and caulking in the shower, a bad paint job covering who knows what on one of the walls and outlets, sand under the glass insert in the dresser, and just a dingy vibe overall. Housekeeping was inconsistent and there were numerous times we had to call the concierge to replenish the towels and minibar. There was a day where none of the trash was taken out despite being overflowing. Plates and cups were left outside room doors without being picked up for a whole day. We've stayed in numerous 5 star hotels over the years and this was by far the worst conditions. I will say, I prefer a firm bed, so I slept pretty well, but I'm in the minority on that and most reviewers are justified in their assessment. Our view was nice since it was between a break in the trees, but it didn't seem like most ocean view rooms could see much more than the pool and trees. I'd also say it was probably one of the louder areas of the resort due to the proximity to the pool. We like a lively atmosphere, so it didn't bother us too much, but if you prefer quiet, I'd skip this room type. Value: 3/5 - Sandals Barbados is really overpriced in my opinion. The value just isn't there. Again, we're no strangers to 5 star hotels of all price points, but this didn't hit the mark. Though we made the most of our first all inclusive vacation, and may be open to visiting other Sandals locations in the future, we will unlikely return to this particular resort unless the reviews improve and it becomes clear the oversights have been corrected. It was also a bit weird that we were put on the spot a lot to tell them what we'd rate the resort and to post a review. At one point, there was even a bartender named George at Neptunes who shoved a QR code in our face to write a review on the spot (which we didn't do). Final notes: You need to get chairs by the pool or beach by about 7-7:30 in the morning if you want a spot at all which was really frustrating as we aren't morning people. They need more chairs to accommodate all guests or offer more daytime entertainment since sitting by the pool or beach is really all there is to do all day. We did go bowling once, but despite being the first ones there, we still had to wait an hour for the attendant to come back from lunch. The ocean was a bit rough when we were there, so water sports did not seem to be available. Obviously, this is no fault of the resort. I saw the Hobie cats go out a few times but none of the other activities. We did have concierge service as part of the Club Level, but I feel like what we utilized them for should just be available to all guests as part of the high price point. It was disappointing that even for a week long vacation, reservations at restaurants were hard to come by and only available for difficult dinner times. We ordered room service twice which was a perk, but I think making restaurant reservations, having a mini bar stocked daily and having sufficient housekeeping should not need an "extra level" of service.

best friends destination wedding from the wedding planner disappearing on rehearsal night to watching the wedding planner and team still setting up after the ceremony for the dinner which delayed our dinner, to hearing the property manager complain and curse at the wedding guest when asked why they were not done setting up prior to the ceremony finishing. her excuse was this is the biggest destination wedding we’ve ever held, to watching the staff drinking the alcohol during the ceremony and telling everyone that they were out of certain liquor before dinner by 8:30pm.